D’Angelo Gives The BET Awards Its Soul Back

Be honest: when you heard that prodigal son D’Angelo was making his first televised appearance in over a decade at this year’s BET awards, you probably called your bookie to put big money on “D’Angelo bails.” I did, and now I’m broke. D’Angelo did show up at the BET awards. And he was amazing. He came onstage, backlit, and immediately let the doubters know he still had it with “Untitled”‘s first downstroke. But after feeding the old heads, D’ broke into his painfully funky new track, “Sugar Daddy” for an extended jam that afforded us, the viewing audience, not one, but two shots of Beyonce grooving out in the crowd. Stalwart bassist Pino Palladino took a truly excellent solo, and D’Angelo himself showed the world his vastly underrated piano chops. Not everyone got it; Nicki Minaj looked a little stunned, and whoever was sitting behind Nas looked like he was playing Words With Friends. But no matter; D’Angelo is back and it doesn’t seem like much has changed (except the cornrows).